I am launching a brand new project in 2013 - a series of Inspirational Conversations with some of Sydney's most fascinating and creative people.
The Conversations, organised in conjunction with the City of Sydney Libraries, will be held at Ultimo Library on the final Wednesday evening of each month.
The very first Conversation for the year will be with the inspiring and absolutely amazing Stacey Demarco.

The fabulous Stacey Demarco

We'll be talking about how to get inspired, how to stay inspired and how to use the power of thought to drive us forward in our creative projects.Stacey Demarco is a Modern Witch and the author several books on the subject of witchcraft and personal development.

I know you will agree that Stacey will be a fascinating person to hear, and she will offer a truly unique insight into how to get inspired.
Just click through here to book your place at this free event.

Wednesday, 30 January 2013 from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM (EST)

In the 1970s Druids were big. English chidren's television, which became Australian children's television through the agency of the ABC, was filled with supernatural stories based on Druids and Druidic mysteries. I remember a particularly terrifying series based at Stonehenge where Druids turned out to be space aliens (I have no idea what this was called - I would love it if someone could indentify it for me), and of course one of my favourite shows was that almost-perfect series about a time-travelling Druid, Catweazle.

Much later in life I stumbled upon the Druids again, this time in my research into the esoteric and self-help movements of the Nineteenth Cenury. It was in this period that Druidry was re-invented, in self-consciously archaic secret societies that romanticised ideas of old England and rejected the stuffy, rigid Christianity of the era. In this period England saw a renaissance in antique social rituals and societies. Mummers, Oddfellows and Druids sprung up after an absence of hundreds of years. By the early 20th Century Theosophists such as G.R.S. Mead were talking up Druidry as a source of the continuous and ancient Wisdom that has always been at large in our world, though in different guises.

The Druids were, of course, an ancient priesthood (that was, apparently, open to women as well as men) that managed to preserve ancient Celtic religious rituals in the British Isles. The ancient Romans were said to have been terrified of them. Caesar wrote about them saying that they worshipped the same gods as the Romans, though under different names. The Roman disapproval stemmed from their habit of burning human sacrifices in wicker cages. Druidic horse sacrifices were still occurring in Ulster as late as the twelfth century.

Meyrick and Smith, the English folk historians, cast the Druids as a benign scholarly class in ancient England, and that is largely the way they are viewed now. These days Druids are seen as eco-warriors and maintainers of romantic ideas of wilderness and antique living. They cultivate groves and hold secret rituals within them, and in books such as Druid Magic the ancient tradition is cast almost a method of self-help, a way of channeling the wisdom of the natural and ancient world into achieving one's loftiest goals.

Most recently I was very interested in a BBC podcast on the excellent In Our Time series that discussed the Druids in a most scholarly fashion, placing them in history both ancient and modern. I do recommend you have a listen to it.

I have decided to do some serious reading over Summer. So here is my little pile of new books that will make me appear smarter and deeper than I actually am. From the top:

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli - My senior high school principal alerted me to Machiavelli in my final year of school when I was elected a prefect. In retrospect, that was a very peculiar thing to do. I encountered him again studying political philosophy as an undergraduate. It's time I read him once more, I think.

Illuminations by Walter Benjamin - If you have studied lit. at a tertiary academy in the past ten years it is impossible to avoid the name of Walter Benjamin. But guess what? I have never read him! Not a word! Well, I am about to change that.

The Popes by John Julius Norwich - Should be an interesting counterpoint to Machiavelli. I adore the Popes and any intrigue to do with the Catholic Church, and I also adore the charming and old-world John Julius Norwich, so I am really looking forward to this one.

The Basic Works of Aristotle - Bite the bullet, Walter. I walk around with an enormous inferiroty complex because I have never studied Western philosophy in any systematic way. This might mark a beginning.

The Quest for Proust by Andre Maurois - I am a Proust groupie and read anything Proust-related for pleasure. But it sounds so much more impressive than it actually is.

Arrival City by Doug Saunders - I read an essay by Mr. Saunders in the Spectator ages ago and ever since then this book has been on my list. Basically he says what I think: that the global shift towards living in mega-cities is a good thing, and we should embrace, celebrate and facilitate this change in lifestyle. Looking forward to him helping me hone my arguments.

We are launching the series in true style with the amazing Modern Witch Stacey Demarco. Stacey is the author of Witch in the Boardroom, Witch in the Bedroom and many others, including a very successful annual Moon Diary. Hers is a voice and perspective rarely heard in contemporary culture, so I am really delighted that she will be the first ever inspiring conversationalist! Stacey's session has already been booked out (in a matter of days!), but you can still register to go on the cancellation list here

These conversations are free, but you must book through the Sydney City Library's booking system.

Details:

Inspirational Conversations: Maintaining Your PassionWalter Mason talks to Stacey Demarco about maintaining your passion. Stacey is a Witch, metaphysicist and popular writer who believes ancient techniques can solve modern problems. In this conversation, Stacey talks about the power of thought to keep us inspired and help make our dreams a reality.

On the 27th February at 6pm I am hosting Vogel Prize winning author Belinda Castles, and we'll be talking about finding inspiration.
You can book for this event here
Read more about Belinda here

On Wednesday 27 March at 6pm we have the fabulous Gabrielle Lord, the Godmother of Australian crime writing, talking about where creativity comes from.
You can book for this event here
Read more about Gabrielle here

There is no point pretending that the book industry is not going through
"interesting times." I think the head-in-the-sand approach has
failed us, and it will only continue to inflict damage on authors, booksellers
and publishing houses. Realities have to be faced and new ways of thinking have
to be introduced.

I speak as something of an insider. I have been watching bookshops in Sydney
close since the late 90s.

Indeed, I have been present on the shop floor when a
few of them went under, and I was always immensely frustrated by the response
of customers and so-called "devoted readers." Working in a shop that
had closed its second branch, for months I would meet angry customers who would
storm in to the remaining branch (now itself closed) and demand, "Why did
you close that branch? I loved that place." I bottled it in for a while,
but finally I couldn't and I began to answer them bluntly: "You obviously didn't love it
enough - it went broke." If they’d found the time to act on that “love”
and actually darken the shop’s doorstep more frequently it would have survived.

Just imagine what would happen if each of us just once a year selected one book we loved and set about promoting it and
telling everyone about it. I might be naive, but I think that that kind of
grass-roots promotion would be incredibly effective, and help to establish a
much more vibrant and engaged book culture.

We have seen evidence of just such people power in recent times. The huge
amount of energy this year that helped create Stella Awards, and the accompanying
Australian Women Writers Challenge is a wonderful example, and NationalBookshop Day is another. I have also been impressed by the work of libraries in
promoting 2012 as the Year of Reading. Power to the people! All of these things are
projects we as individuals need to get behind.

So many of us want to preserve some elements of the literary culture that we
know and love, but so few of us are prepared to make any effort to ensure that
preservation. If bookshops, authors, publishers and local literature are to
survive then each and every one of us needs to get active. Here are some ideas
of how we, as humble readers, can hope to save the humble book:

1.Support your local bookseller – if we really believe in
diversity and uniqueness on our high streets we need to put our money where
our mouths are. And we need to do this intentionally and self-consciously. It’s
all too easy to order our books on-line, all the while telling people how we
just adore going into bookshops and browsing around.

2.Attend author events, bring your friends even help to
organise them – for a local literary culture to thrive there needs to be an
active and commercially viable “scene” in which authors can speak and be heard.
Melbourne is very good at this kind of thing, but Sydney significantly less so.
Author readings and talks are probably the cheapest entertainments currently
available, and are well worth supporting. Take a chance and go to hear an
author you’ve never heard of before, or challenge your intellectual limits by
going to hear about something about which you’ve previously held no interest.
Authors commonly speak at bookshops, libraries and community clubs. If these talks are
not happening in your area, why not start organising some? Almost every author
I know is happy to attend an event that helps spread the love of reading.

3.Support local Writers’ Festivals – If you’re in Sydney
the local Writers’ Festival is a massive affair, but all over the world small
and specialised writers’ festivals take place. Book yourself for that weekend
and go and see everything.

4.Champion favourite books and authors on social media –
I often wish older people could cultivate a bit of rock-star mentality and go
crazy about their favourite books and authors in the way they did about their
favourite singers back when we were teenagers. If you read a great book, tweet
about it and mention it on Facebook. If your favourite author has a new book
coming out, do a countdown for it on your blog. Twitter and Facebook are fast
becoming the main ways people find out about new books, so become an influencer
and share your passions.

5.Take part in reading challenges – These are great fun,
and great ways to broaden your reading repertoire. The peer pressure also
encourages you to read more, which is always a good thing. This year I was a
part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge, and last year I was part of the
R.I.P Challenge, which caused me to read a whole lot of
classic horror novels that I would otherwise never have gotten around to. So do
a Google search on “reading challenge” and pick one that is coming up that
appeals to you and take part. Even better, pick one that’s a real challenge,
and watch your world expand.

6.Help to involve children in reading and writing - Give kids books, take them to readings and to hear children's authors when they speak. Sign them up to the local library and take them weekly. Get them the books on which TV shows and movies are based - encourage them to be curious about the origins of things.

7.Use your local library - Libraries are real treasures and deserve our support. Go to their events, go and check out books, and make it a real resource centre. I often go just to read, or do some writing in my journal, just to be a part of its vibe.

8.Give books as gifts and follow up on the reading - Be annoying and call your friend three weeks after giving them the book to ask them how they liked it. Once you've done this a couple of times I can guarantee they will read it. This might seem a bit aggressive, but we all have impossible schedules, and sometimes we need little reminders to make us do the things we really want to do. I for one appreciate it.

9.Join a book club

10.Stretch
your literary boundaries, and let everyone know - if you've decided to branch out into sci-fi, blog about it and turn it into a bit of a project. Be conscious that your reading life is interesting to others, and that your enthusiasms and curiosities can help and stimulate other readers.

My house can often get very noisy. I like to pop on a CD, or fire up my desktop, or even slide in a cassette tape (yes, I still have a functioning cassette player) and really turn it up loud. If you wander by you will hear me singing. If you peeped inside you might even see my dancing. But no-one has to know about my secret pleasures.
I have always had an infamously bad taste in music, and I am completely incapable of any consistent enthusiasms. In my collection early choral music rubs shoulders with late Barbra Streisand, and the St. Matthew Passion might get played right after Boney M's sadly neglected Oceans of Fantasy album.
So here is the music I played the most this year, and I am delighted to see it displays a praisworthy idiosyncracy:

Attracting Prosperity by Steven Halpern - Unless you are a raving New Ager you probably have no idea who Steven Halpern is. But if you've ever done a yoga class, had a massage or gone in for a spot of colonic irrigation I can bet on the fact that you've heard him. He is the New Age music maestro, the Godfather of tubular synchronised sounds played up against an ocean waves soundtrack. This is part of his subliminal series - while I'm listening to that wafting muzac I am absorbing whispered messages about how rich I am going to be. I find it all incredibly relaxing and, most importantly, I can concentrate on my work while it's on and doing me good.

Stormy Weather by Grace Knight - I love Grace's voice, and I grew up listening to the Eurogliders. This is an album of Grace doing a number of jazz standards, and I always stop and listen to Guess Who I Saw Today, one of the kookiest songs ever, and one I introduced Thang Ngo to when we were both youngsters. Every song on this album makes me happy.

Letting Go - Subliminal Power Series - More New Age musical wallpaper. I adore it because track two is just ocean sounds. It drives my cat crazy, so maybe those subliminal sounds do actually work.

Albinoni 12 Concerti A Cinque, Op. 5 - It might come as a surprise that I did have a formal musical education, and have a very solid library of classics. It's just that I favour the odd and the obscure, or something with a bit of camp back-story. Which is why I favour Signor Albinoni's Opus 5 over the other, better loved, ones. See, I was a hipster before it was even hip.

Club Mixes of the 80s by Phil Harding - Relive your youth, anyone? The moment I put this double CD set on I was instantly seventeen again, and that is why it gets an almost daily spin in my house. The late 80s really represented the pinnacle of popular music in England, and here you have the best of it. Highlights? Jimmy Ruffin's Easy Just to Say and Pepsi & Shirlie's (they were the Wham backup singers, remember?) Heartache.

Cho by Choying Drolma - I had been playing this CD for months when I saw on Facebook that Ani Choying Drolma was coming to do some live concerts in Australia. I went to see her at the Opera House, and of course she was divine. And as a result this has been on constant replay for about six months now. Tibetan chanting re-worked as ambient pop - it is just sublime.

I have had such a busy year, travelling, writing, speaking and teaching. Which is my way of saying that I actually read fewer books this year than I did the year before, despite the professional obligations of reviewing. That means I am going to have to up the ante a little in 2013, and do more reading for pleasure and non-professional improvement.
But there are the six books I absolutely loved this year. I suggest you read them all:

1. Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser - Big, ambitious and almost-perfect, this book kept me constantly surprised, and in awe of the author's skill. An "issues" novel that manges to avoid preaching, the story never takes you where you expect it to. Original and beautifully written.

2. Love & Hunger by Charlotte Wood - This is a cookbook and a series of meditations on food and its place in our hearts, families and communities. It has inspired me to be a better and more patient cook, and to start cooking for the people I love, the way I used to. It's also the sort of book you could give to anyone. So many people I know have read this book on my recommendation, and every single one of them has loved it.

3. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeannette Winterson - The wonderfully neurotic Winterson turns her pain into exquisite art in this honest and loving book about her mother, a woman who did her best to destroy her. Winterson's reflections on her upbringing are morally complex and based in great part on an immense kindness and willingness to forgive. I loved this book for its subtlety and its refusal to give lazy responses or cliched points of view. Simply brilliant.

4. The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magical Monk by Justin Thomas McDaniel - You don't really expect a monograph about Thai Buddhist folklore published by an academic press to be a thrilling read, but this amazing book manages it. Quite simply, McDaniel is a masterful storyteller who knows so much about his subject - the magical practices of folk-Buddhism in contemporary Thailand - and can write about it in a thoroughly entertaining way. Anyone who has ever visited Thailand will find this book constantly fascinating, and anyone who has romantic ideas about Buddhism will be thoroughly challenged.

5. Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux - What are the odds of having two books with "ghost" in the title on my list? I read this book while I was engaged in some serious travel, taking a train across Thailand, a plane across Vietnam and endless buses across Cambodia. Fortunately this echoed the patterns of this book, a recreation of Theoux's own original journey across Asia that made him famous when he turned it into a book, The Great Railway Bazaar. Cranky, grumpy and occasionally exasperating, you still can't help but be swept along in the really quite frantic pace of Theroux's compulsive journey.

6. Tennessee: Cry of the Heart by Dotson Rader - Yes, an out-of-print 1980s memoir of the great playwright. This is the record of a long friendship, a kind of sub-genre that I always enjoy. This book really charts the great man's twilight years, when he was frequently drunk, drug-addled and negotiating the services of young hustlers. Rader is a brilliant author, and this scandal-soaked memoir is actually quite affectionate, and ultimately illuminating. Made me love Tennessee even more.

If you are in Australia, you are about to enter into a long Summer break, and many of you will be looking for some lovely books to read during this period. It is also, of course, gift-giving time, and we always want something new for our bookish friends. So with these things in mind, Stephane Dowrick and I did something a little different for this month's episode of the Universal Heart Book Club. We each selected three books we thought might be just the thing, either as a thoughtful Christmas gift or as a lovely gift for yourself for reading during these hot summer days.
Have a look at the video here:

Boy George just gets more and more fabulous with age, and yes, I do say that as a lifelong fan of the man.
But this song just seems perfect for the holiday season, and so I wanted to share it with you all.
This song is recorded with DJ Yoda, and features on his album Chop Suey.
It's a beautiful, laid-back track, and yes, I am certain that it will make you H-A-P-P-Y just listening to it.

Author, healer and psychotherapist Sharon Snir will be speaking at the Sydney Unitarian Church early next year.
Her most recent title, The Little Book of Everyday Miracles, is a heart-warming and constantly inspiring collection of real-life stories about the place of the miraculous in our lives.

In her talk Sharon will be discussing the magical place where love intersects with miracles. It will be a truly wonderful morning, so do put the date aside.

Having recently read and loved Emily Maguire's fascinating novel set in Hanoi, Fishing for Tigers, I have been plunged into a fit of Hanoi nostalgia.
I love Hanoi at this time of year, when it is cold and grey and a whole world away from Saigon.
So I thought I'd share some of my favourite Hanoi moments caught on camera:

OK, I am slightly addicted to self-help books, I'll admit. So great is my addiction, in fact, that I have devoted the last 5 years of my life to studying them while writing my doctoral dissertation on the history of self-help literature in Australia.

Here are 7 lessons I learned from the book about nurturing yourself and taking your own needs seriously:

Co-athor Jade-Sky

1. Get out into nature: One of the book's authors, Stacey De Marco, is a modern witch, and as such is part of a tradition that reveres nature and recognises its importance in our spiritual lives. The book advises getting out into nature every day, something I often forget to do. All of us need to spend more time with our bare feet on the ground, and not on cement.

2. Ask the Universe for help: So many of us are hung up on the idea of being rugged individualists, on being totally self-reliant. But sometimes this just isn't good for us. Learn to ask for help in a way that is non-invasive and empowering. Throw your needs out there and let it be known that you could use some help. You'll be surprised.

3. Remember what you loved as a child, and re-introduce some of those things into your life: Do you ever stop to think of the things that enchanted you as a child? Comic books, aimless walks, swimming in freshwater creeks, watching B grade monster movies. All of these things nurtured us and fed our imaginations. Going back to them might just help spark some important part of your memory.

4. Get familiar with mythology: For 80s kids, Clash of the Titans (the original!) was a really big movie, and for me it brought to life the ancient myths of the Greeks. How I loved that film! But as the years have progressed, I have became a little shaky in my memories of Greek mythology. I also want to acquaint myself with Celtic and Nordic mythology, all of which has so much importance in Western literary culture. These stories carry incredible power. Learn them again, and you will begin to see them re-created everywhere.

5. Take small steps toward your dreams: Going all the way is often impossible. But we can always do some small thing to move us towards our goals and dreams. And once you start, these baby steps really start to add up. Pretty soon, you are a long way towards achieving what you wanted. Don't think you have to change your life right now. Just do something small, and repeat again tomorrow.

6. Attend seminars: Hardly anyone does this. Self-help guru Brian Tracy says about 4% of the population ever attempts any kind of self-improvement in adulthood. That just seems unbelievable to me. Why wouldn't you want to learn new things, to stretch your horizons? Be a doer. Sign up for classes, workshops, seminars. Consider systematic study and check out university courses. It is NEVER too late to get an education. Be interested in life and be excited about learning from others.

7. Be prepared for a journey, not an instant enlightenment: Just because you want it doesn't mean you will get it immediately. Almost anything worth having takes work, persistance and patience. So many people give up, just at the point of achievement. Don't be so easily disheartened. Prepare yourself mentally for setbacks, rejections and occasional boring patches. That's life. The key to success is a willingness to get up again the next morning and keep going. You're walking a path, not jumping off a cliff.

Measuring Your Outcomes:

Schedule an encounter with nature once a week for the rest of 2013. Record the impact this has on you, in writing, and note any revelations or ideas that occurred to you while out and about. I'd love you to share these with me in the comments, and maybe come back to me at the end of the year and tell me if you have noticed any positive effects in your life.

Exciting Announcement

In January I will be having an inspirational coversation with Stacey De Marco, one of this book's co-authors, at Ultimo Community Centre (Library) in Sydney.

This event is now booked out, but if you are keen you can still register to go on the waitlist here.

Vietnamese food, especially in Australia is
known for two things, taste and value. I remember, when growing up,
being amazed at how many ingredients go into a typical Vietnamese dish
and how much time it takes to cook a good meal. A bowl of pho involves
cooking beef bones for hours and adding a bewildering number of spices
including coriander seeds, star anise, cumin, fennel seeds, black
peppercorns, garlic – and they are just the spices I recognise. The
depth of richness in the soup also comes from salt, ginger and of course
fish sauce. And more is added to the pho at the table: bean sprouts,
chilli, basil and hoi-sin sauce. Next time you order a $10 bowl of pho,
take a minute to appreciate all the effort.

And it’s the same with a banh mi thit
(Vietnamese pork roll) over 10 ingredients including three types of
meat, pate, mayo, pickles, chilli wrapped in a crusty, crunchy long
roll. While a chicken and avocado sandwich might set you back $8, you
can get a pork roll for as little as $3 and it’s not just in the
Vietnamese hubs like Cabramatta, Marrickville and Bankstown - a very
decent pork roll can be had for $3 in Penrith! Pork rolls are the
un-sung heroes of fast food, perhaps the original subway! Pork roll shops
are spreading all across Sydney - next time you pop off to your local
hot bread shop, check to see if there’s a counter in the corner. A tip,
if I may: avoid it if there’s sliced lettuce anywhere in the vicinity!

Earlier
this year, I undertook a stomach churning search for Sydney’s best pork
roll – a crazy chomping frenzy stretching from Hurstville to Penrith and
in between. At the end of the six weeks, I announced the winner of Sydney’s best pork roll.

Since
that time, it seems like more and more pork roll places have popped
up. One of the more recent is an all-out assault on Sydney’s CBD, with
the Pork Roll shop in Sydney’s George Street diagonally across from
World Square. A tiny frontage that is just enough for two pork roll
making counters, early on it was only an amazing $3.50 for a pork, roll but within
months that had gone up to $3.95 – which is still pretty amazing value.

Noodlies
finally got the chance to give it a test drive and I’m very, very
pleasantly surprised. It’s the best Vietnamese pork roll I’ve had in
the city; crispy roll with an lovely ‘just right’ colour – not under
cooked or over-cooked, all the ingredients are there, all pretty
authentic – no skipping corners, there’s even pickled carrots, spring
onions and sliced chilli – two types of condiments too, soy and salt and
pepper. A few minor, and they're very, very minor observations: firstly, it
could have done with a tad more pate and mayo which would have made it
more creamy, the meat had a slightly strong five spice after-taste (fine
for me, but may not be to everyone’s taste) and finally the soy sauce
was a little light. But please, readers, these are very minor issues in
an otherwise excellent pork roll that’s under $4k. Oh, +1000 likes for
the crunchy roll!

If
you want to read more about Vietnamese pork rolls get the current
edition of SBS Feast Magazine for my full page ‘break-down’.

Details:

Pork roll (that’s the only name on the shop)

627 George St, Sydney

Thang ngo is the publisher of Noodlies, Australia’s number one video food blog.

My home is filled with religious kitsch that could easily furnish several
temples and a couple of churches. And that's across all sects and
denominations. Once, when I took my brother-in-law to visit a Buddhist monk
living in a small suburban cottage that had been turned into a temple, he said,
"This guy's a lightweight when it comes to statues. Your house looks more
like a temple."

While some criticise me for filling my house with devotional tat, I like to
think I am curating one of Australia's foremost collections of popular
religious art. So you can imagine that one of my favourite programs on
television was ABC's constantly fascinating The Collectors. Each week it
showcased hoarders and accumulators after my own heart, people who collected
irons and vintage handbags, plastic bangles and condiment packets. My
pleasure in the series only escalated when they appointed the single most
fabulous woman ever to appear on Australian television: the extraordinarily
beautiful and stylish Claudia Chan Shaw.

Claudia Chan Shaw

Then my viewing became obsessive, and
I was panting every week to see what the utterly chic Claudia would be wearing
as she trawled through sheds full of penny farthings and attics hung thick with
70s wallpaper samples.

Imagine my pleasure when I discovered that Claudia has just published her
own book, a fascinating overview of the world of collecting: who's doing it,
what they're collecting and where they get it. Collectomania is not just a
beautiful and fascinating book. With Claudia's eye for detail you just know the
photography and layout is going to be extra special. It is also beautifully
written, filled with anecdotes and the compulsive stories of the constantly-peculiar
fraternity of world-wide collectors. There is also the occasional and
tantalising peek into Claudia's own collections, particularly her obsession
with robots.

Collectomania is a book that will liberate all the bower birds living
amongst us, and it is actually a terrific read, making even the most obscure
collecting impulses come alive with stories, information and fascinating
trivia. I was drawn in to her discussion of Bakelite and the several forms of
early plastic that so liberated the fashion world when they were first made
available. Who knew that plastics could be so fascinating?

Claudia charts the history of collection, reminding us of the Wunderkammer,
the cabinets of curiosities collected by noblemen in an infinitely more
charming age. As she points out, many of us have our own secret little
Wunderkammer, boxes hidden away filled with strange souvenirs of our life,
particularly our youth. Mine actually sits right on my desk, a hand-made wooden
box that my computer monitor rests on. It hasn't been opened in years, but I
know exactly what's in it: a couple of pieces of vintage Comme des Garcons that
will never fit me again, some great jewellery pieces I wore in my dance party
days, some notes and letters, a pair of fishnet stockings (don't ask) and a
card deck I was given on my eighteenth birthday called "52 Handsome
Nudes." Among other things.

Collectomania will bring back wonderful memories of items that loomed large
in your childhood, and it will also inspire you to start taking seriously your own
collections. It's a tremendous read, from cover to cover, and makes a gorgeous
Christmas present, with its rich photographs.